When I purchased my TI one of the influencing factors was a custom trailer that my local Hobie Dealer had made. I had been leaning towards an aluminum trailer but this galvanized trailer has a well thought out cradle assembly. The dealer had thought why make people buy a large beach cradle AND a cradle on the trailer- why not make one cradle do double duty? And so he worked with a local manufacturer and came up with this. Watch the video....

Only other thing that I would like to see is how does the cradle attach to the trailer when the boat is not on it??? Sometimes I like to launch and retrieve at different locations. My wife picks me up at my destination. How does the cradle stay on the trailer???

Only other thing that I would like to see is how does the cradle attach to the trailer when the boat is not on it??? Sometimes I like to launch and retrieve at different locations. My wife picks me up at my destination. How does the cradle stay on the trailer???

The cradle stays on the trailer by using the two webbing straps that are used for holding it on the TI. On mine I simply strap them around the axle and it holds them firmly on while driving and for launch and retrieve. I don't carry the wheels with me unless I know I am beach launching - so they stay at home most of the time. But if you are unsure about security in the boat park and worried about someone taking the cradle, you can simply unhitch the two buckles and store it inside the vehicle. The dealer has made up a couple of bungee loops to hold the cradle straps on his trailer but I found I don't need those.

That's a great idea Aussie, very similar to what sun E sailor posted here:viewtopic.php?f=73&t=35157&start=60There seems to be a lot of unsupported hull at the stern of your TI. Have you had no distortion problems? I had to add a rear support under the keel of my TI.

Aussieonyak,Excellent, well done! Making the second cradle serve as a beach cart just makes sense. I should think that Hobie and Trailex would be interested in offering a combination like this in the future.

The important thing is to have the TI sitting on a trailer that's as low to the ground as possible. Then when it slides completely off, the stern wont hit the ground.

As you've probably already discovered, as long as the ground is level behind you, the back end of your TI just clears the ground as it comes off the trailer.

Stringy - yes it does have similarities to what Sun E Sailor has built - his trailer has 3 hull supports plus cradle to my two total so his would provide more support and I think as a result his loading/unloading is likely easier. There is 4 ft of hull beyond the rear cradle and I've done over 1000 miles with the boat on the trailer so far with is no sign of distortion so far. The amas appear to by supporting some of the weight of the main hull on mine.

Sun E Sailor - I really like your setup with the 3 supports I think it would make it easier loading/unloading than mine. You could probably make your beach dolly the 3rd support as a docking support. The docking action on mine is not as smooth as I would like it to be and you have to be careful to place the dolly at the right spot to avoid the hull contacting the trailer cross beam. But it works and is pretty simple.

Aussieonyak,Thanks - I think both trailer designs have individual merit. The real advantage as we've seen, is having the saddle/cart serve double duty. I can't use my rear saddle as a beach cart as it wouldn't get past my stern roller or the end of my pvc mast carrier; that's why I mounted it up front.

Your trailer being lower to the ground than my Trailex SUT 350-S, allows you to do what you've done which is really terrific. Mine allows me to have a bit more support, the carrier, and the stern roller, which does come in pretty handy sometimes.

However because of the height, when I begin to slide my TI off my trailer I first have to place a small wheel cart at the stern so it doesn't hit the ground, then put my Appel Cart underneath the boat (up towards the balance point near the rear crossbar). As I continue pushing the boat off the trailer and it begins to level out, I go back and remove the small cart and use just my cart to roll away. From watching your video I can tell you that you're definitely faster than me , but that's okay.

I think there's a design out there that would incorporate all of this, we'll just have to wait and see.Enjoy your boat and thanks for sharing your new trailer design.